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My problem with the Day Care episode

I love MITM, of course. BUT, i did not like the Day Care episode where the Wilkersons went to the church. I felt this episode offended the Lord. I did not like the way they portrayed God. They seemed to portray Him as a destructful being who is ready to strike you down at a moments note(this is what Dewey was thinking) This is not true. As a Seventh Day Adventist Christian, we know that God is loving and does not look forward to killing anyone. This is really the only episode I did not like. The show is still great though.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and mind and soul. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is this-love your neighbor as yourself."-Lord Jesus Christ

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

While I can see the ideas that an extremely faithful Christian may have (and forgive me if I offend you in this post--not my intent, by any means) with this episode. However, MITM isn't geared towards the politically correct audience. This is not the first time that the show has tackled some type of controversial issue.

Judging from a religious thread we had here a few months ago, many MITM fans aren't avidly into religion, and have trouble understanding why people have so many problems with other people's problems. That's not to say that people who disagree with that idea shouldn't watch MITM. If everyone stopped watching if the show marginally insulted them, there wouldn't be any viewers left. From the top of my head, the show has tackled racism, sexuality, disability, stereotypes, smartness, cliques, issues in the family, justness of law, the meaning of a holiday, ethics, the afterlife, teenage depression, pregnancy, and supersition. That's quite a list by any stretch. Are dumb people offended by Malcolm's IQ? Are judges offended by episodes like Jury Duty? Are people with divorced parents offended by episodes like Krelboyne Picnic and Family Reunion and Hal's Christmas Gift offended?

MITM has dealed with a lot of very controversial issues, but that's what makes the show special. Every episode isn't politically correct. I mean, in the first episode, Lois walked around the house with her boobs sticking out while Hal was shaved naked. That's not exactly conservative. And I think that Daycare was just another way of viewing this issue. Every time the series deals with a controversial issue, it takes some type of standpoint. And that's just the standpoint that it took in this ep. it doesn't mean it's right or wrong; it's just the reasoning of the writers.

Furthermore, as you said, that scene was through Dewey's eyes. A lot fo the series is through the eyes of a teenage boy, which may substantially change the viewpoint. The best example of this that isn't controversial is in Smunday when Lois rises out of bed--of course, that's what Malcolm sees, not what really heppens. And this is just Dewey's ideas of religion.

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

Mmm. It's kind of good speech. I would have answered the same if I were you.

But if I want to be blunt, I would say that MITM is absolutely not just a kind of funny show, it's really deeper, every scene is a way to express a viewpoint and to make people think about it. That's why Boomer claims the show has been created for adults.. If you are so hurt by what this show expresses, either this show is not for you or maybe you have found that your cherised ideas was trapped into the MITM argumentation..

You know, JP Sartre has written a lot about "ill will"...

In my country we have a saying : What hurts is true..
I don't want to be mean, I just want to make you think about it..

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

Well, it still stands that in my mind God is one, everything else is two. Like i said, I still love the show, but I just didn't like this episode. Im sure God is not mad at them, and I am sure he has a sense of humor, or else he would not let us laugh. Anyway, I was sharing my own thoughts.

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

I didn't really care for day care either. I'm not that religous, but I can see what you're saying. It seems kind of wrong make a joke out of religeon and use the church for personal gain like they did in this ep. But like Yardgames said, they deal with a lot of very controversial topics so naturally religeon is going to be one of them. This episode was pretty mild compared to Pearl Harbor where they blatently sterotyped gay people. I have to admit that Reese's version of Amazing Grace in day care really cracks me up everytime I see it though.

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

Thanks for seeing eye to eye with me, Wildcat. Thats exactly what I was trying to push.
On a side note, what is the episode where Malcolm has a surgery and the other stay at home and play that board game that is eerily like Risk?

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

Originally Posted by Wildcat

It seems kind of wrong to make a joke out of religeon and use the church for personal gain like they did in this ep. But like Yardgames said, they deal with a lot of very controversial topics so naturally religeon is going to be one of them. This episode was pretty mild compared to Pearl Harbor where they blatently sterotyped gay people.

I don't see the reasoning behind that. If it's ok for them to joke about other things then what's so wrong with joking about religion? If you have a religious viewpoint then fair play, but you have to allow people to criticise your viewpoint and make fun of it too, that's what freedom of speech is. God and the Church may be sacred to many people, but to many others they're not sacred at all, so why shouldn't people be allowed to joke about them?

I've probably said this before loads of times but i think that the point that comedy becomes offensive is when it says, we'll joke about one thing, but not another. Like saying it's ok to laugh at Muslims, but not Christians for instance. When you draw those kind of boundaries its like priviledging one thing over another, and that's what i find offensive.

By the way, from a gay perspective, Pearl Harbour does stereotype, but so what? I thought it was funny, and i think the joke was more about the boy's own stereotypical views on homosexuality than anything else; i didn't find it offensive. Overall i think that you've got to be able to laugh at yourself, and your own beliefs, characteristics etc. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't defend them, and believe in them, but you just have to be able to see the funny side once in a while, don't be too precious you know?

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

Originally Posted by Wemboy

I don't see the reasoning behind that. If it's ok for them to joke about other things then what's so wrong with joking about religion? If you have a religious viewpoint then fair play, but you have to allow people to criticise your viewpoint and make fun of it too, that's what freedom of speech is.

I think you may have misinterpreted my previous post. I didn’t say that they shouldn’t be allowed to joke on religion. In fact, I agreed with Yardgames that religion is fair game along with all of the other controversial topics they’ve covered. I tend to lean more toward evolution than creationism myself, but that’s just me. I personally didn’t find the religious jokes in the episode that offensive; I just meant that I can see where people who are very religious would view it that way. I still didn’t care for the episode—not really because they were making a joke out of religion, but because they were pretending to be religious just so they could use the church as a day care service, and then to finish building the addition on their house. Taking advantage of people’s trust like that is the part that seemed wrong to me. Of course, that’s the way this family operates. They’re not exactly known for having the best ethical values in the world so it’s no surprise that they would use people like that. That doesn’t mean that the episode was absolutely horrible and totally offensive, it means that I personally don’t agree with what they did. Regardless of all that, it was still a pretty funny episode, just not one of my favs.

As far as Pearl Harbor goes, that’s great if you’re homosexual and you didn’t find the stereotyping somewhat offensive. I’m willing to bet that there are other people out there who did though. As with the religion issue, I can totally understand where people who are homosexual might find it offensive even though I don’t feel that way myself. Like Yardgames pointed out earlier, there are so many controversial topics on this show there’s no way that they aren’t going to offend somebody at one point or another. Making light of controversial issues is one thing that makes the show so funny. At least they don’t joke on some topics and leave others alone though. That would just be wrong. They give everyone an equal opportunity to be offended!

Re: My problem with the Day Care episode

I always find it extremely entertaining and enlightening when we get a good argument going and people are posting some constructive ideas to it. It seems to happen so rarely, so I always enjoy it when it does.

That said, without destroying the argument or pointing it any one individual, I want to remind you all of some general rules for arguing. Please feel free to do it, but make sure that each of your posts are constructive to the argument, posting new ideas . If you use any scholarly articles, be sure to cite them, as well. On a topic as touchy as this one, please think very carefully about what you post before you post it. Please don't censor yourself, per se, but put yourself in the other's shoes and ask yourself if you would be offended. If you're unsure, then add to your agurment a reason why the other person should not be offended.

I also want to point out to Alfist that your post has been deleted, because it was rather offensive.

If you don't agree with another person's post (directed at everyone) then refute it with reasons, rather than simply saying something like "you're dumb, that's not right."

Again, this is not directed at any one person. I just wanted to put this out here after our previous debate on religion. That said, I look forward to your arguments and may even get into the action myself.